The adventures of James II Potter
by HarryPotterBot
Summary: Next generation, post-Hogwarts story. James Sirius Potter was a bigshot at Hogwarts, but how will he deal with everything when he and his peers are tossed out into the unknown? Fresh out of Hogwarts James worked towards becoming an auror, but a new evil is rising. Bellatrix Lestrange's grand-daughter, Joelle Lestrange has been burned one too many times and now she is out for blood.
1. Prologue

**-PROLOGUE-**

The alarm blared early in the morning of June 1st of the year 2022. James Potter shot straight up in his bed, grimacing as his dream drifted away from him and slowly rubbed the sleep from his eyes. It wasn't any orthodox alarm either, James and the boys he shared his dormitory with were awoken to the shrill squawks of the Potter family owl, Athena.

Pushing away the Montrose Magpies themed covers, he drew apart the aged burgundy curtains which surrounded his rickety four poster bed. It and everything else in James' dormitory had been standing for, honestly James and the boys would often joke that only Merlin could answer that question, but it had belonged to James for seven years now and today would be the last time he would hear the familiar squeak of the bed springs protesting under his weight as he slid out of bed to shoo Athena away. Today was the beginning and the end. James Potter was graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"James, shut that bloody bird up!" came an outraged cry from the far side of the dormitory. Evan Snow, messy brown hair, build of a quidditch player, muggleborn and best friend of James Potter was not a morning person.

"She's gone already! Get up you lazy git," James playful replied, knowing full well that if it were any other time of the day Evan would have him in a headlock by now. They would be graduating in just a few hours and that thought made James feel like a little kid at Christmas time, except for the butterflies in his stomach. As much as he had been looking forward to this day, he had also been silently dreading being tossed out into the unknown. Of course he knew exactly what he wanted to do already and he was always up for a new challenge, but leaving behind the routines and his peers at Hogwarts, it would still be difficult to say goodbye to it all.

* * *

Deep within the maze of the manor that the Lestranges' called home, Joelle Lestrange, five years out of Hogwarts was refining her potion making skills. "Three more clockwise stirs and we will be one step closer to getting daddy back," she said softly, talking to the photograph of her late mother.

Her mother had been killed by a group of five drunken muggles and it had broken Joelle's heart. She had been inconsolable for days, but her father had said he would put things right, but not in the way she had expected. A week had passed before anything happened, the day she had lost her father as well.

"_Kyle! Everyone! Look who I found!" A man in his mid-thirties, one of the drunks who killed Maryanne Lestrange, hollered out to his gang. He had just found Joelle's father and thought him to be an easy target, all he had was a wooden stick in his hands. _

_Frederick Lestrange had his wand clutched so tightly in his hand, he was sure it would leave a mark. He stumbled forward as one of the men, Kyle he thought, shoved him from behind. He had a look of pure rage on his face, these muggles had killed his wife in cold blood and now they would face the same fate. "Avada Kedavra!" he bellowed at them. In a flash of green light the first man who had spoken, dropped to the ground, he was dead. It took a moment for Kyle and the other muggles to realise what had happened and that was enough time to bring fear into their eyes, but not enough time for them to run. Within two minutes the rest of the muggle gang could be found dead on the deserted street corner on the end of Park Street, looks of terror etched onto their unmoving faces. _

Joelle shook her head, shaking away the memory. Her father had never known, but she had followed him that night and had watched the whole scene unfold before her very own eyes. She had thought that he had been justified in what he had done, they had killed her mother. Her mother was gone and was never coming back. They deserved to be dead. Aurors had converged at the scene, Joelle remained hidden and watched in horror as her father was charged with the murder of five supposedly innocent muggles and breaking the statue of secrecy. His wand had been snapped on the spot and he had been taken straight to Azkaban without a fair trial.

That had been a year ago and the potion she was creating was a part of the plan she had to spring her father from Azkaban. It had taken a full year for Joelle to console herself and begin to execute her well thought out plan. It was fool proof, nothing could go wrong and in a mere few hours she could be reunited with her father.

"Mistress Lestrange, Pippa brings The Daily Prophet for you." The tiny Lestrange house elf had scurried into the dungeon, quickly dropping off a copy of the morning Prophet. Bowing so low her nose touched the ground, she departed just as soon as she had arrived, as if afraid of how her master would react to something.

Opening up the newspaper, Joelle read over the headline on the front page of the paper. She blinked furiously and re-read it, making sure she had read it right. 'Muggle killing, Frederick Lestrange, dies in Azkaban.' Joelle let out a screech of emotion. Her father, who she was to be reunited with today, had died. She didn't cry, she was beyond tears, she was beyond everything. Those infuriating muggles and aurors who had been responsible for taking her mother and her father away from her would pay the ultimate price. It was not about saving herself any more, it was about how many of them she could take down with her.

* * *

"James Sirius Potter." Professor Longbottom's booming voice called out his name from the long scroll which he held in his hands. Neville had a proud smile on his face. He had watched James grow through his years at Hogwarts.

James strode up the stairs confidently. He had a sort of arrogance about the way he walked. He appeared to be so sure of himself and that it came out even in his posture. Crossing the podium, he reached Headmistress McGonagall and firmly grasped her hand in a handshake. He could swear even McGonagall had the slightest of proud smiles on her face. Despite all the trouble he had caused during his time at Hogwarts, all the professors were proud of the person he had become. Cheers erupted from the crowd that had gathered for his graduation. His entire family had come to see him graduate and just before he hopped off the podium he signalled to his brother, Albus, in the crowd.

Firecrackers set off, filling the air above them with an impressive fireworks display. Saluting the Headmistress, James leapt off the podium and into a throng of friends and family. He had just graduated and nothing could hold him back now. His future was wide open for the taking and he was going to do exactly that.

"I'm proud of you son," Harry Potter had a tear in his eyes as he congratulated his first born child.

"Aww dad, there's no need to cry. I'm not going anywhere." James was pulled into a hug by his mother who was openly sobbing. James rolled his eyes, snaking his way out of her arms. "Mum, really? I graduated, I didn't die," he chuckled, watching his father gently patting her back, while wiping a few tears from his own eyes. James was happy, the huge grin on his face refused to fade away, he didn't want it to. All his insecurities from earlier that morning had disappeared and he knew he was ready for anything.


	2. Chapter 1: Meetings, Family and Cake

**-CHAPTER 1-**

**M****EETINGS****, ****F****AMILY AND ****C****AKE**

"James! Your father wants to see you in his study!" Mrs Potter's voice could be heard from all the way down the street. Now living in the Potters' old house in Godric's Hollow, the family had renovated the inside of the old house to Ginny's taste, which meant bright colours and feature walls in every room including the bathrooms. James did not mind in the least, if it stopped his mother's incessant complaining, he was happy.

James thundered his way down the stairs, his bedroom was on the second floor of the house and as a child he had made a habit of sliding down the banister, though if he were to try that same move now it would not end well for him. James was now twenty-one years of age and had just completed his third and final year of auror training. He had joined the auror training program straight out of Hogwarts, having received all the necessary NEWT grades. Now his father, Harry Potter, was the head of the auror department and was therefore his boss. Hurrying down the stairs and towards the study, James knew that this had nothing to do with their work. This meeting would be about the family reunion that was to take place at the Potter household later that night.

Passing by the painting of his grandparents, Lily and the original James Potter, James popped his head into his father's study. "Dad, you wanted to see me?" James sidled into room, sliding onto the old fashioned floral designed sofa.

"Yes, I need you to go and pick up your brother's friend up from the airport." Harry told him, not lifting his eyes from the papers that were laid out in front of him.

"Why can't Albus do it himself? It's his friend," James complained.

Harry looked up from the file he had been reading over, locking eyes with his son and releasing an expectant sigh. "Albus has training today and his friend arrives in one hour. James…"

James cut across the rest of his father's sentence, "Alright! Alright! I'll go and pick him up." He conceded, knowing that if he were to stay at home his mother would make him do chores anyway. "Which one of Albie's buddies am I picking up from the airport?"

"Her," Harry corrected. "Ara Malfoy, she was in your brother's year at school. You may have known her as well."

"Malfoy?! Dad you can't be serious!" James practically yelled in surprise. Ara and James had never gotten along. She was in Slytherin, a blonde, a know-it-all, everything about her repulsed him, but then again there was that one time. He shook his head, still in disbelief. "She moved to only God knows where and now she just happens to needs to be picked up from the airport? Why can't she just apparate?"

"Son…" Harry said sternly, giving James a grim look. "You will go and pick her up and she is our guest for the night so you will act cordially around her."

Albus was friends with the she-Malfoy. James could not wrap his head around the concept and it clearly showed on his face. "Fine… I will go and pick her up, but that's all I'm promising. If she acts like a world class bitch, I'm not going to just sit there and let her insult me." Rising from the sofa, he turned on his heel and left the study, leaving his father scratching his chin in amusement. James was in a silent rage and when he had left his father's study, at first he had paced about his room for a good half hour and then he figured he would go and take it out on the reason he was in this mess, his brother, Albus.

* * *

Albus was speeding around the Tutshill Tornados practice pitch on his Firebolt 700, the wind was whipping through his hair and he felt pure exhilaration as he shot up through the clouds chasing after the golden snitch. After graduating from Hogwarts he had been recruited by the Tornados along with one of his best friends, Scorpius Malfoy. Albus was the seeker on the team, whereas Scorpius was a chaser and their friendship had only strengthened as the years had gone by.

Clutching the snitch tightly in his left hand, Albus descended back down through the thick layer of clouds, holding the snitch up over his head, a victorious grin on his face. The captain called the end of the practice just moments later, after Scorpius had scored his impressive ninth goal for the practice. The entire team flew back towards the ground and started to make their way back to the Tornados locker room.

Albus and Scorpius loitered on the pitch for a little while longer than the rest of the team. "Good practice. I think we really have a shot at winning this year," Albus said with a grin.

Scorpius agreed with a hearty nod, his grin almost identical to the one currently on Albus' face. "Definitely mate! Hey, isn't that your cousin up in the stands?"

Looking up into the stands Albus saw that Scorpius was indeed correct, Rose waved at both of them. Albus waved back at her calling out a greeting which he wasn't sure she could hear, signalling for her to come out onto the pitch to meet them. "Rosie's probably here to remind us about the gathering tonight." He informed Scorpius with a roll of his eyes.

Scorpius however did not appear to have heard a single word that Albus had said. He seemed to have been taken by Rose's beauty like many men before him. Albus chuckled and elbowed him in the side before Rose reached them. "Wha… Hiya Rose," Scorpius greeted her with a grin.

"Hey Al, Scor!" Rose smiled warmly at both the silly git standing beside Albus and her cousin.

"Hi Rosie, what brings you here today?" Albus asked her, returning her smile and wiping a dribble of sweat off his cheek with the bottom of his quidditch jersey. Just as Rose was about to answer, the loud crack of apparition echoed through the empty stands and James strode out onto the pitch. If looks could kill, Albus thought he and Scorpius would be dead by now, not that he thought that his brother would ever lift a wand at him, but the look on James' face at that very second was one of his more venomous looks…

* * *

James was furious, Ara Malfoy was coming back. Albus and the fool standing next to him had to have had something to do with her return. "Albus, Malfoy," James spat out their names, completely ignoring Rose, which she didn't seem to mind. "Explain. Now!" he said in a deadly serious voice. He inwardly smirked as he watched as they shuffled their feet uncomfortably, before Albus looked up and looked at him with a determined look on his face, well that was what James deciphered it to be.

"What do you want us to say, James? Ara decided to come back on her own and we're happy that she is coming back. She has been gone for far too long." Albus spoke quietly and James had to try and keep his cool and not whip out his wand and hex his little brother like he was imagining in his head.

"Why do I have to pick her up from the bloody airport? She's a witch for Merlin's sake! Why can't she apparate?" James was fuming. He was not looking forward to seeing that head of blonde hair rushing at him any time in the near future, but it looked like it would be inevitable.

"She doesn't know where we live," his brother informed him in a matter-of-fact kind of way.

James sighed and pulled a hand through his already dishevelled looking jet black hair. Though everyone told him he looked more like his mother than he did his father, James had inherited the untameable, jet black Potter hair. He liked it, it gave him the appearance of having just gotten out of bed and the ladies seemed to love it. _And I got stuck with the witch because I just have the worst luck in the world,_ James thought sourly. "Rosie Posie, you're friends with the she-Malfoy. Why don't you go and pick her up?" James suggested hopefully.

Rose rolled her eyes and gave him a disapproving look that only Aunt Hermione could manage, it was truly terrifying. "Because dear cousin, Aunt Ginny has already given me a list of things to do before tonight and I'm already falling slightly behind because of your little rant."

James knew that Rose was right, there was no use complaining about it. He would have to do it himself, besides there simply was not enough time to get anyone else to do it any more. He had to admit, the ranting did make him feel a little bit better, despite how childish it may have appeared to have been. Maybe she had changed and she would be more tolerable now. No, James was sure she would be just the same.

* * *

"Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing, thank you." The automated voice recording played over as the luxury Malfoy air plane started its descent into London International Airport. Soon they had safely landed the plane and Ara exited the plane, placing her feet back on English soil after two years of being in away in France.

Ara was rather excited and nervous about returning to England. She was sure people would have made up quite a few stories about why she had left and she had read some of the more ridiculous ones. _Ara Malfoy flees England after suspected activity in the Dark Arts_, The Daily Prophet had said. _Ridiculous_, she thought with a shake of her perfect blonde hair. The real reason she had left was because she had wanted to see her old friends and connections from Beauxbatons Academy for Magic, where she had attended from her first year through to her third year.

As expected she was met with a hoard of press. "Miss Malfoy, can you tell us why you have returned?" The same question was being asked by a least a dozen different reporters and she was glad for the fact that she had changed and freshened up before exiting the plane earlier, as photographers snapped pictures of her as she hastily made her way through the crowd.

"No comment," she said as politely as she could, making her way out of the large spectacle of a crowd and inside into the airport to collect her bags. She could not help but let out a sigh of relief as she left the paparazzi behind and entered the warmth of the familiar airport. Reducing her pace, she strolled through the airport searching for luggage train number five, where her bags were supposed to be located.

When she finally did arrive she could see someone had already gathered her luggage and was now casually leaning against the wall on the far side of the room. Well Albus had said he would have someone pick her up since he and Scorpius were both busy, this must be him. She could only see the back of his head and it looked familiar to her. She walked up to him and taped him on the shoulder. "Hello, you must be here to…" She lost her train of thought as the man turned around with a customary smirk etched onto his face, "Potter." Albus was going to be a dead man when she got her hands on him. There he was as if a day had not passed since her graduation. Her nemesis with the amazingly infuriating hair and smirk, it was James Potter.

* * *

A light tap on his shoulder was the only warning he had gotten. James had spun around with a smirk on his face as his eyes raked over the blonde in front of him, scrutinising all of her flaws. Before she had left for France, she had cropped her hair short, but it had grown back out again; He liked her hair long, it framed her face nicely, not that he took much notice of it, or so he liked to believe. Pushing his fingers through his hair, James finally met her gaze, it appeared that she had been doing exactly what he had been doing and now she was standing there with an expectant look on her oval, heart shaped face. "Hello Malfoy," he greeted her coolly, not quite sure how to act around her any more.

"I asked you whether you were just going to stand there like a fool or whether you wanted to get moving." There was the Ara Malfoy, James knew, quite the little firecracker.

"In due time, Malfoy," he retorted back, chuckling to himself. _The less time I have to spend with her, the better_, he thought grimly. They had started walking outside, James leading the way, pushing her luggage on a trolley. They were in a muggle airport, that meant no magic and despite his great dislike for the girl walking beside him his mother and father had always taught him to be the perfect gentleman, hence the reason why he did not make her push the trolley herself, he was tempted to do it just to spite her though.

Once they came to his black Audi, he started loading her luggage into the boot and then came around the side and got in from the driver's side expecting that she would have gotten in by now. He sighed in irritation as he looked over to see that she was still rooted to her spot on the sidewalk. "Malfoy, just get in the car," he practically growled. She looked at him with a skeptical look firmly in place and she didn't look like she was going to be getting into the car any time soon. With a sigh, he slipped out of the car again and came around to where she was standing. "Malfoy, I know how to drive. This isn't a death trap, I'm not suicidal," he said with a roll of hazel his eyes.

"When did you learn how to drive?" She finally asked. James could hear the same skeptical tone in her voice that was showing on her face.

"I wanted to get a car, my dad and Aunt Hermione taught me. I passed my test with flying colours, nothing to worry about Malfoy. Now get in the car," he repeated. He watched as she hesitantly opened the door and took her seat on the passenger side. This was going to be a long drive home that was for sure.

After a half hour of awkward silence and sideways glances, James decided to break the silence. "So, Malfoy… what have you been doing with yourself for the past two years?" He smirked, as he saw her cheeks redden from the way he had intentionally worded the question to make her feel uncomfortable. She was mad alright and she looked hot when she was mad, especially when she was mad at him. Any guy who had half a brain could tell all of that and James thought himself to be one of the lucky few who could raise that kind of reaction from her.

"As a matter of fact, Potter," she spat his name out, shooting him a glare, which if he had not been on the receiving end of the glare so many times in the past James may have just crashed the car into Terry river, which they had been driving over at the time. "I have been training to become an auror for the past two years. I also got my potioneers license and don't think that I didn't catch to your vulgar double, I'm not going to grace you with an answer to that." She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back, as if hoping she would sink through the back of the chair just to be rid of him.

James' knuckles whitened a little as his grip on the steering wheel tightened when he realised that they would be working together in the near future and here he had been thinking that he would be rid of her after today. He gave a forced chuckle, knowing it would only add to her rage towards his brother later, he would pay to see that and then they sank back into silence. It was not an awkward silence this time. They were both seething from just their less than five minutes of conversation.

It was Ara that broke the silence next, after another hour of driving. "Are you lost Potter? Trust you to get lost on your way back to your own house." James could not help but laugh a little, the look on her face said that she was completely serious, though the tone of her voice said she was trying to be as cordial about it as possible.

"No Malfoy, we're not lost. In fact…" He turned into a driveway and switched off the engine. "We're here," James said with an adorable lopsided grin that he knew only Ara was immune to. He stepped out of the car at the same time that she did and went round the back to collect her luggage. They were back in Godric's Hollow now and they lived in the wizarding side of town, which meant they could openly use magic. Taking out his wand he levitated her luggage in front of him directing them into the house and slung an arm over Ara's shoulders to put a show of camaraderie, to please his father.

"Ara welcome back!" James' mother and father pulled her into hugs, which she returned warmly. James still had a slight smirk on his face from when he had felt her shoulders stiffen from having his arm draped over her shoulders, she really did not like him and he could say the same about her. "James put her things up in the guest bedroom, Ara and I have so many things to catch up on," his mother instructed him. Any other day he would have complained, but if it got him away from the witch, he would do it happily.

* * *

James only came down from the confines of his bedroom once everyone had arrived for the party and he was quite impressed by his timing. Albus and Scorpius had just walked in and Ara was berating them for making her sit beside James for one and a half hours of her life. Albus must have said something wrong, because the next thing James saw, much to his delight was Ara's wand prodding into Albus' abdomen and a deadly glare in her eyes. Chuckling, James walked past them, patting Albus on the head as if he were a dog, making his way into the kitchen where everyone else had gathered.

"James!" His Aunt Hermione pulled him into a hug almost as soon as he walked into the kitchen. "How is my godson doing today?"

"Aunt Mione… can't breathe," James' voice came out muffled because his aunt was hugging him so tightly. He could hear his cousins snickering in the background, but he didn't try and escape her arms. She eventually released him and after greeting the rest of the adults, he moved out into the backyard where his cousins had ventured out to. He took a seat between Roxanne and Teddy. His best friend, Evan was there as well sitting next to Dominique, which brought a smirk to his charming face once again. He was the only one who knew that Evan had the biggest crush on his part veela cousin and it had only taken two months for James drag it out of him. James leaned down to Roxanne's ear and whispered something into her ear, "What's on the menu for tonight, Roxy?" James and everyone else who had ever attended one of these gatherings knew that Roxanne was always up to something and something big always went down because of it. Roxanne just shook her head, she never spilled anything about her pranks, but she had on occasion asked James for help.

Soon everyone was sitting around the table, the food had been brought out and just as James was about to reach for a chicken leg, his mother slapped his hand away. "Don't use your hands James, the utensils are meant to be used," his mother reprimanded him. She had lived around Uncle Ron for way too long. He sighed and used the large tongs instead, glaring over at Ara and Rose who were both smirking and giggling at his misfortune.

Nothing of any interest to James happened until dessert was brought out. Red velvet cake was one of his favourites. As it was levitated into the middle of the table, suddenly Roxanne, under the pretence that she had dropped her fork, crawled under the cover of the table. As soon as he saw this, James pulled out his wand and cast a shield charm around himself, just in time to see the entire cake explode, covering everyone around the table in a thin layer of his delicious cake. "Mm… Cake!" James grinned around at everyone, as Roxanne emerged from her hiding spot under the table. James picked up a piece of the remaining cake and tossed it into his mouth. "Well it still tastes great mum," he said cheekily, looking over at his cake covered mother, who was silently fuming. That received him two hard kicks to his shin, from under the table. Wincing and looking up, he was met with the glares of Lily and Rose. "Women…" He muttered under his breath, but apparently he had said it a little too loud and earned himself an additional two kicks that he was sure were going to leave a bruise.


	3. Chapter 2: As we know it

**-CHAPTER 2-**

**A****S**** W****E**** K****NOW**** I****T**

James woke up to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs wafting in through the tiny crack under his bedroom door. Yawning widely he rolled off his old bed, yelping quietly as his feet came in contact with the ice cold timber floors. He no longer lived at home, but he always slept in the comfort of his childhood bed when late night family reunions occurred and last night had been no exception. He had moved into his own apartment two years into auror training and now lived in the same building as his best friend and old roommate from Hogwarts, Evan Snow. It was a nice glassy brown bricked apartment building located on the outskirts of muggle London. James was clad in only a pair of black silk boxers and out of habit he exited his room and made his way over to the common bathroom. Just as he put his hand on the handle the door swung open to reveal Ara Malfoy dressed in a tiny navy blue nightgown that only reached halfway down her thigh. He drank in her appearance with a smirk on his face, "hello Malfoy."

"Potter!" Ara half yelled in shock. James found the way she hastily pulled her robe closed quite amusing and endearing, blocking his view of her toned body. She appeared to recover quickly though, making a quick assessment of him as well, or so James thought. "Don't you own any proper clothing? No one wants to see all of THAT" she said casually, while gesturing to his half naked state. She brushed past him and out into the corridor.

James could hear her muttering insults at him all the way down the hall, which only made his smirk grow wider. "Well good morning to you as well," he chuckled, entering the bathroom and going about his daily routines. Getting under Ara's skin sure was a great way to begin his day.

Twenty minutes later everyone, that meant the Potters' and Ara were all fully clothed and gathered in the dining room eating their fair share of the mass amounts of food Ginny had prepared, she always had a tendency to go overboard when they had a guest over. James was sat in his usual seat next to Albus and across from his mother. Both his father and Lily at the two ends of the table and lastly, Ara between his mother and Lily. Ara was in Teddy's usual seat, but Teddy had gone home back to his apartment and James was pretty sure Victoire had been with him.

"Ara dear, what are your plans for the day?" Ginny asked softly, taking a sip of orange juice as she did.

Ara swallowed her mouthful of eggs and then began to speak. "Well I was planning on looking at a few apartments. I want to get a place of my own as soon as possible." She explained. "I don't want to become that guest who never leaves." She added on with a chuckle.

James couldn't help but laugh a little, as did the rest of the family. "Well we wouldn't want a repeat of this morning now would we?" he smirked, watching her cheeks redden in embarrassment or maybe it was anger or perhaps a combination of the two.

"What happened this morning?" Albus asked, turning his head from James to Ara and then back to James.

"Nothing Al, just messing with her, right Ara?" James made sure all eyes were on Ara before he sent a wink her way. He knew his dad would not be pleased, he had specifically told him to act cordially towards their guest.

"Right." Ara nodded smiling sweetly obviously trying to be the bigger person and let it slide. "Anyway that's the basic plan for the morning and then I guess I might catch up with a few people and then I have dinner at the manor."

It seemed like a pretty average day to James, he was just glad to be rid of her for the day, not that he would be there when she got back. Sometimes he couldn't help but be grateful that he did not live with the family any more, though he had to admit that he did miss his mum's cooking. With that in mind he loaded another serving onto his plate, receiving a warm smile from his mother.

* * *

After the spectacle of a morning that she had just had, Ara was dressed in a casual summery dress that was once again mid-thigh, but it was a dress that could be extended to be a floor length gown for when she had to go to dinner at the manor provided that she was not in the mood to displease the parents. She strolled down the busy streets of Diagon Alley, blatantly ignoring the press and had her arm linked through one of her best friend's arms, the fiery redhead Rose Weasley. They had become fast friends at Hogwarts even though they had been in different houses and after Ara had gone to France Rose was the only one that she had properly stayed in touch with. "Thanks for coming with me Rosie, I really needed a second opinion and Al and Scor had training today. Training on a weekend, do they ever get any free time?" She laughed softly and could distinctly hear the click of a camera which made her want to roll her eyes.

"Like I would turn down a chance to hang out with my best friend who I haven't seen in way too long." Rose smiled, laughing with Ara. "So where exactly are we going, we're meeting Juliet, right?"

Ara nodded confirming that they were in fact meeting Juliet Dolohov, a girl that had graduated three years ahead of them and she was now one of the Malfoy estate managers. "Yes, we're meeting her outside the Leaky Cauldron and then she's going to be showing us a couple of different places that she found."

Just as the pair exited the Leaky Cauldron, they saw none other than James Potter and Juliet in an embrace. Actually in Ara's opinion it looked like Juliet was eating his face, which was not something her or Rose, judging by the look on her face, wanted to see. Ara cleared her throat to try and get their attention, but to no prevail. "We can wait." She said out loud, the laughter clear in her voice. Whatever it was that Juliet saw in Potter, well she just couldn't see it at all. With the sound of a plug being unplugged, James face emerged from behind the young brunette's head. She appeared to be straightening her clothes out, so very professional of her.

"Malfoy, Rosie. What brings you here? Couldn't bear to stay away from me for one hour?" He asked with a smirk which was directed at Ara.

"Actually we have an appointment with Juliet here, so if you don't mind…" Ara trailed off.

James rolled his eyes but conceded. "I'll see you later Jules." He said with an arrogant smile, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek before looking over at the girls and giving them a look that said something in between irritation and possibly gratitude. No it must have been something else, definitely something else.

Most of the apartment buildings in the area were owned by Malfoy enterprises, the family business which according to tradition would be handed over to Scorpius and herself in name once their father decided to retire. After walking through the first couple of apartments, Ara and Rose had found something wrong with each and every one and Ara was not about to buy an apartment that she did not think was perfect. One had had too many windows, another had had too little windows and the last one they had seen had a shared bathroom between two apartments, little things like that. Those were the only three options that were not owned by Malfoy enterprises and that information irked Ara a little, she had not wanted to buy within the Malfoy group but it looked like her options were limited. Somewhat reluctantly she agreed to see some of them. While they searched they talked as well, Juliet it appeared was not James' girlfriend so to speak, they had just hooked up a couple of times and she did not think it was going anywhere. Rose had piped up at that moment saying that James did not have girlfriends for more than a week in any case, which did not surprise Ara at all. _So that is what the look on his face was about earlier_, she thought. Juliet had been obsessed with James during her time at Hogwarts, so Ara highly doubted that it meant nothing to her.

By lunch time they had visited all of the properties and Ara had found two that she had taken a liking to, both of which were located in muggle London and both penthouse apartments. However Ara still did not quite like the idea of buying within Malfoy enterprises. Juliet left them for lunch and said that she would meet them back there and have a look and see whether there were any new sales. Over a quick lunch of tapas and drinks, Ara had talked herself out of buying either of the two apartments and she just hoped Juliet would come back with the perfect one. She knew it was a long shot but she kept her fingers crossed under the table because she was feeling particularly superstitious at that moment.

"Did you two have a good lunch?" Juliet had just re-joined them and took a seat at the table, pulling out a small piece of parchment.

"It was pretty good. I might even bring Dom here. She really needs to get out more often." Rose said with a chuckle, obviously joking.

Ara nodded and just waited for Juliet to get to the point, she was feeling a bit impatient and she knew there was no rush, but she really did want to just find a place soon. "Did you find any new properties?" Ara asked hopefully and she was shamefully certain that it came across in her voice.

"I did actually, one was just listed. The previous tenant just moved out last week and it isn't with the Malfoy group." Juliet said with a smile. "Shall we go and take a look?"

Ara and Rose nodded, rising to their feet and made their way into a quiet alleyway away from muggle eyes and then disapparated, appearing just inside the lobby of the apartment building.

"Why does this place look so familiar?" Rose wondered out loud as they made their way over to the elevator. She apparently dismissed the thought because she said nothing else.

"Familiar?" Ara questioned as they arrived at the apartment. After a walk through, Ara could not help but believe that this was the apartment for her. It had four bedrooms which she obviously did not need, but it was in her price range so that did not really matter. A fireplace in the living area as well as the master bedroom and two bathrooms, one shared and one en-suite for the master which was surprising larger and better furnished than the shared one. Separate kitchen, living and dining all spread over the top level of the apartment building. It was perfect and Rose could not find anything wrong with it either.

"If you want it, you'll have to put a deposit down today. It's bound to sell fast." Juliet informed them.

"That should be fine. I can come by the office and look over the documents as well, so that should work out well." Ara agreed, turning to look at Juliet, who nodded and led them out of the apartment before agreeing to a time. Juliet then disapparated back to her office to get everything in order. "Rosie! This is the one!" Ara said in excitement as both of them exited the glossy brown bricked apartment building.

* * *

After leaving Juliet, Ara and Rose, James had gone to one of the popular wizarding pubs in London and had met up with Evan. "It's a shame that Mark moved out of the building, but I wonder who the new tenant is going to be." James mused over it as he downed a shot of fire whiskey.

"Most likely another bachelor or better yet a hot babe…" Evan had a sort of glazed look in his eyes and James knew exactly which witch he was thinking about and lightly slapped him on the back of the head. "Sorry mate," Evan chuckled, coming out of it. "But really it has got to be one or the other. No slob can afford a place like that and since it's the penthouse well that pretty much rules out the elderly."

"True that." James agreed ordering them another round of fire whiskey. "To Mark!" He laughed, clinking his shot glass against Evan's before downing his second shot. Mark had been their neighbour for the past year and had proven to be a top bloke. However he had suddenly had to move out because of some familial issue that had very quickly arisen. A shame really, he had been a great neighbour. "Did you read the morning prophet?" He asked, suddenly taking on a more serious tone. Evan shook his head looking over at James with curiosity etched onto his face. "Well going past all the useless gossip about the she-Malfoy, Elder Doreenius was killed - the vampire." He added on, seeing the confusion on Evan's face.

"Elder Doreenius? One of the oldest vampires of all time…" Evan trailed off. "Well it looks like we're going to have quite the week at work then." He said, assuming that James had taken an interest in it because dark magic had been involved.

James nodded his agreement. "Yeah, they say dark magic was involved and aurors are looking into the death. She was drained of blood – actually I do wonder how the prophet got all of this information and why it wasn't on the front page is beyond me." He said with a shake of his head. _You would think a murder would be front page news_, he thought. _Though it had been a vampire, wizards and vampires had never really gotten along - that must be it. _James was brought back out of his train of thought when a rather frazzled looking Juliet took the seat next to his and he could clearly see the hidden smirk that Evan was giving him right at that moment. Juliet had been obsessed with him even at Hogwarts and on a whim he had hooked up with her out of boredom, she did not appear to be so bad, but when you say clingy you could not go past Juliet.

"Hey Jamesy…" Juliet purred, running a hand through his hair which he did not appreciate. Some people just did not seem to understand how to be gentle or boundaries and this was just embarrassing.

He extracted her hand from his perfect hair placing it back on her lap. "Look Juliet, you're great, really. You're beautiful, you're intelligent and you're funny, but I don't think I can keep up with you. You deserve better, I'm sorry Jules." He had used that line one too many times, but it always worked or so he thought.

"You're breaking up with me?" She sniffled, her eyes had become watery and even though she had gone along with the pretence that they were not dating, it had been special to her.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Jules." James replied bluntly. Normally he would have had more tact about it, but he was sure Juliet would be on to the next professional quidditch player she laid eyes on by the end of the night.

"Let's stay friends, okay Jamesy?" She said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, let's stay friends." James agreed, figuring there was no harm in doing so, though really he could not see them bumping into each other any time soon which was good for him. He watched as Juliet left the pub, turning to endure the hysterics of his best friend.

* * *

"Ara darling, you're here!" Ara's mother Astoria glided forward and kissed her daughter on both cheeks before stepping back and looking her over. She opened her mouth to comment on no doubt a small flaw that she had found, but Scor cut across her.

"Baby sister!" He teased, pulling her into a hug as if he had not just seen her the night before at the Potter-Weasley gathering.

"Scor, can't breathe." Ara laughed, trying to free herself from the constraints of his arms. He released her after another minute, allowing her to fill her lungs with new air. It appeared that nothing had changed, her father Draco was apparently still in his study finishing off some work, just like old times.

"Miss Ara!" An excited sounding squeak informed Ara of the entrance of Ginger their beloved family house elf. "Gingy is very happy to have Miss Ara back." Ginger, dressed in a cute pink dress which no doubt her mother had picked out, bowed low and then disapparated back into the kitchens to check on dinner.

Dinner progressed in a quiet and sophisticated manner, nothing Ara had not been expecting. The conversation flowed nicely going from politics, to Scor's quidditch training and finally landing on the icky topic of Lance Flint.

"Whatever happened to Lance? Will he be joining you here in London?" Astoria questioned her daughter.

Ara shook her head, her knuckles turning a slightly pale white colour as her hand closed tightly around her fork. "No mother, he will not be joining me and even if he was in England I wouldn't want to see him." Ara replied in a falsely calm voice that she had mastered from none other than her father who was sitting stony faced at the head of the table.

"Shame really, he was such a nice boy." Astoria said with a sigh.

"If you call a boy who cheated on your daughter with an American bimbo a nice boy then yes he is a very nice boy." Ara threw back venomously.

"That's enough Ara. Do not raise your voice to your mother." Draco finally spoke up from his spot at the head of the table.

Ara eyes went from her mother to her father and then dropped down to her empty plate. "I'm sorry mother." She said, not sounding sincere at all, but that was the best she could muster up at the moment. Her eyes locked with Scor's and he gave her a reassuring nod which she was grateful for. Some part of her wanted to just storm out of there, but she knew the only person she would be hurting if she did that was herself.

* * *

"Mistress Lestrange, please!" Juliet was quivering before Joelle, she had had the cruciatus curse used on her twice already and her own screams were still ringing through her ears.

"Crucio!" A voice bellowed in the dimly lit dungeon. Juliet once again crumpled to the floor in excruciating pain.

"That will do." Joelle's voice sounded from the chair in the front of the dungeon, it appeared to be a throne of sorts. "Leave her there." She commanded while stirring some sugar into her tea. "Now tell me more about Morgan le Fay and this supposed theory involving fairy tales." She demanded taking a sip of her tea.

Whimpering quietly, Juliet produced a piece of paper from within her jacket pocket which was promptly snatched out of her hand and handed over to Joelle. It was a duplicate of a page from one of the ancient texts from the Malfoy library.

_Morgan le Fay, also known as Morgana, was born in the Middle Ages and built up the resistance against the Great wizard, Merlin. She was the queen of the island of Avalon and was better known for being a very powerful Dark Witch. In addition she was also a talented healer and an animagus whose form is known to be a bird. _

Joelle looked up from the parchment with a calm air about her. "I could have known all of this from reading a chocolate frog card. Is this some kind of a joke Dolohov?" She spat, her voice shaking in anger.

"N…no!" Juliet said in panic, seeing two wands being directed at her heart. "It doesn't say where or how she died, that's…" she stopped speaking suddenly. No, she was still speaking but no sound was coming from her mouth. A feeling of terror was running through her veins.

"Let her speak." Joelle commanded and at once Juliet's voice could be heard again.

"That's because she can be reborn, she never truly died. Her magic was preserved so she could use it in another age. It is said that Morgana's flame was passed down from generation to generation within one bloodline… Morgana's Staff was passed down another line and a dark curse was also passed through another line." Juliet trailed off going into silence.

With quick use of legilimency Joelle found that what Juliet had said was in fact what she believed to be the truth, even Elder Doreenius had confirmed it. "What you're saying Dolohov is that if I can reunite her flame, staff and the curse then Morgana will be reborn?" Joelle's icy voice penetrated through the silence of the dungeon, her quiet excitement filling the emptiness that she had felt for so long, she now had a purpose. "Pippa, bring Ms. Dolohov and I another cup of tea, we have much to discuss…"


End file.
